July 25, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5211 

the National Youth Sports Week we 

celebrate and to recognize 50 million 

children who participate in youth 

sports. 

It is fitting this year that National 

Youth Sports Week falls on the eve of 

the Summer Olympic Games, because 

many Olympians, like Andy Roddick, 

Misty May-Treanor, Ryan Lochte, and 

Sanya Richards Ross, all began their 

careers as young athletes. Sports can 

make a difference in a child’s life. Student athletes make better grades, they 

get in less trouble, and they are less 

likely to be obese. Sports can build 

character and teach values like sportsmanship, teamwork, civility, respect, 

and discipline. 

We cannot recognize the players 

without thanking the coaches and volunteers who mentor these kids, folks 

like my chief of staff, Dean Mitchell; 

my pastor, who is here today, Matt 

Rich, with whom my son Stephen has 

coached; and all the many others who 

give their time and their efforts to help 

our young people. 

Not all youth athletes grow up to be 

Olympians, but youth sports can shape 

the lives of all of us and make us better 

citizens, whatever our callings in life. 

May God grant that none of us are ever 

too busy to help a child. 

And I leave you with a final thought: 

Go Team USA! 

f 

THE DARK SPECTER OF 

SEQUESTRATION 

(Mr. WEST asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. WEST. I spent 22 years of Active 

Duty service in the United States 

Army. One of the things that seriously 

concerns me is this dark specter that 

hangs over our country right now that 

is called ‘‘sequestration.’’ 

It would mean that we will hollow 

out our military force: that we would 

have the smallest ground force since 

1940, the smallest Navy since 1915, the 

smallest number of fighter aircraft 

that we’ve ever had since the creation 

of the modern United States Air Force. 

This morning, at the Army Aviation 

Caucus breakfast, I sat between two 

distinguished fliers. One was the commander of the 160th Special Operations 

Aviation Regiment. Another was Chief 

Warrant Officer Ford. Between the two 

of them, they had almost 40 deployments into combat zones. Also at that 

breakfast this morning was a former 

cadet of mine, now Lieutenant Colonel 

Dave Almquist, a distinguished master 

aviator in the United States military. 

Our men and women are watching 

us—the men and women who are the 

best and the brightest that this country can produce. But as well, our enemies are watching us to see what we 

will do to our United States military. 

Let us learn the lessons from postWorld War I, post-World War II, and 

post-Korean War. Let’s not gut our 

United States military. Let’s own up to 

our responsibilities in article I, section 

8. 

WE NEED A FARM BILL NOW 

(Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana asked 

and was given permission to address 

the House for 1 minute.) 

Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana. Madam 

Speaker, I rise today to request the 

House of Representatives be allowed to 

vote on the 2012 farm bill. With many 

of the provisions of the previous farm 

bill set to expire on September 30 and 

with only 13 legislative days scheduled 

between now and then, we cannot afford delay. 

Whether it’s from Mother Nature or 

market prices, our farmers face an incredible amount of uncertainty. We 

cannot allow this Congress to be another cause for concern. Farmers in Indiana and throughout our country 

don’t have time for political games. 

They have a Nation and a world to feed 

and an economy that relies on them to 

be all-star performers and to increase 

productivity every single year. 

Mr. Speaker, bring the farm bill to 

the floor now. If not, let’s stay here 

through all of August, all of September, all of October, all of November, and all of December until we get 

this work done. There is no excuse for 

not having a vote on the farm bill. We 

need a farm bill now. 

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair would remind Members that they 

are to address remarks to the Chair. 

f 

LET’S WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT 

AIDS 

(Ms. BONAMICI asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Ms. BONAMICI. This is an important 

week for the United States as we host 

the International AIDS Conference for 

the first time in 22 years. 

Decades ago, our country made the 

shameful decision that no one who is 

HIV positive could enter our borders. 

With the President’s lifting of that ban 

and a greater attention to the AIDS 

crisis, along with the advent of drugs 

that help those with HIV live longer, 

we are approaching what we should 

have always been—a global leader in 

the fight against AIDS. 

Countless Oregonians have been affected by AIDS. I’ve personally lost 

friends to AIDS, and as of June 30, 

more than 5,600 people in Oregon were 

living with HIV. It’s time to eliminate 

the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS 

and to focus on prevention, treatment, 

and care. 

The participants of the conference 

this week show immense dedication to 

the fight against HIV and AIDS, both 

in the U.S. and abroad. Congress should 

have the same dedication. Funding for 

prevention and treatment programs is 

crucial, as is funding for medical research and drug development. 

We’ve come a long way, but there is 

still a lot of work to do. I urge my colleagues to join me. Speak out. Help to 

end the stigma. Let’s work together to 

fight AIDS. 

HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY, SPAM 

(Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and 

was given permission to address the 

House for 1 minute and to revise and 

extend his remarks.) 

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I rise today 

to honor southern Minnesota’s own 

Hormel Foods for its 75 years of producing its world-renowned, iconic product—SPAM. 

Entrepreneur George Hormel opened 

up his meat processing plant in 1891 in 

Austin, Minnesota, but it was his son 

Jay who came up with the idea of 

canned spice ham. Thus, in 1937, SPAM 

was born. SPAM served an essential 

role in World War II. Over 100 million 

pounds of SPAM were sent to the European front to aid the war efforts. After 

the war, SPAM’s popularity soared 

globally. Over 7 billion cans have been 

sold. 

Since the inception of SPAM, Hormel 

has always kept its company’s roots in 

southern Minnesota, providing thousands of good-paying jobs and economic 

stability for middle class folks in Austin. Hormel also has a rich history of 

giving back. They’ve partnered with 

organizations to provide food for malnourished children around the world. 

In partnership with the University of 

Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic, they 

opened the world-renowned Hormel Institute, which gave us Omega-3 and -6 

fatty acids in cancer reduction. 

SPAM is an important part of our 

history. It played an essential role in 

feeding our troops, in creating jobs, 

and it has become an iconic American 

product. So, today, I honor Hormel’s 

past, and I look forward to their future. Happy 75th birthday, SPAM. 

f 

b 1230 

EVERYONE GETS A TAX CUT 

(Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, 

there seems to be some misunderstanding on the other side of the aisle 

on the tax cuts that the Democrats are 

now proposing. 

Yes, we want to cut taxes for the 

middle class. We think that it is critical for our economic recovery. We also 

want to cut taxes for everyone else, including the most fortunate, but only 

on the first $250,000 of their earnings. 

On that portion of their earnings, they 

will receive the exact same tax cut as 

the middle class. But if we hope to seriously address the issue of long-term 

deficits and debt, we can’t do it by 

spending cuts alone. 

According to the nonpartisan factchecking organization FactCheck.org, 

in 2009 Federal tax rates were the lowest level in 30 years. Let’s make one of 

those hard choices the other side of the 

aisle likes to talk about. Let’s extend 

the middle class tax breaks, but let the 

tax cuts for the most fortunate expire 

and use every bit of that revenue to 

help pay down the deficit and get our 

economy moving in the right direction. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE